Saving Him
by I Give Headaches To Aspirin
Summary: Megatron suddenly disappears with only a security video as a trace. Sector 7 have gotten their hands on him again. And he won't be so lucky this time. The Autobots and co have to race against time, to save the Decepticon before it's too late.
1. Day One

A continuation of the drabbles Missing, Scarred and all related that I did for yourdeadwafflecone, based on the fic Cosmic Joke. The drabbles are simply called Cosmic Joked. This isn't the only chapter, it's going to be continued. Hope you enjoy!

The heels clicked across the floor as the blond Australian woman made her way through the Vern base, searching every room, every hangar for the man she loved. Maggie sighed in annoyance, not being able to find Matt anywhere. Her mobile vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, reading the text.

_'Maggie,_

_ Optimus called for a meeting in the main hanger. It's about Starscream and keeping The Decepticons away from Megatron so that the transformation doesn't accelerate. Get over here ASAP. You can find your boy toy later._

_ Lennox'_

Maggie snorted and shook her head. "Boy toy..." She muttered, thinking. "Hmm...maybe I'll have to call Matt that one day..." She laughed. She exited the hangar, heading towards the main one, with no idea about what was going to happen over the next few months.

"Starscream and the other seekers have been venturing closer these past few days; we think this could get out of hand real fast." Ironhide said to Optimus, leaning against the wall casually.

"We can't do anything until they act. They haven't done anything since they tried to kill Sam and my brother, we were lucky to have stopped them the first time with Blackout's help in time. If we had been a few minutes later..." Optimus said, sighing as he trailed off.

"That Thunderclapper or whatever his name is escaped too!" Simmons exclaimed angrily. "And when are you going to let us take Megatron, he's transforming back, it's clear to anyone who looks close enough."

"I'm still working on something for that Agent Simmons." Ratchet growled menacingly. "And he can't go anywhere until I'm sure that his condition isn't life threatening."

"That's not your call to make!"

"Neither is it yours!"

"Ratchet!" Optimus snapped, looking at the medic with stern, icy blue optics. "Calm down, you too Agent Simmons, your behaviour is unacceptable. Secretary Keller has made his thoughts on the matter clear, and he said that you cannot take him whilst he is in our care."

"We'll see about that." The Sector 7 agent smirked. Lennox frowned in suspicion. The other man's heart hadn't been in the argument, like it usually was. And now his eyes were filled with a smug look, that he just couldn't understand.

"You can't take him anyway. It's not right. He's a human being." Maggie argued, getting tired of Simmons' attitude.

"Yeah, and The Allspark said I have to keep an eye on him. I can't do that if he's in a cell now can I?" Sam said, a little nervous about what the all powerful Cybertronian object would do to him if he didn't follow the order.

"Kid, it was a stone box. It's not sentient. It's a stupid little thing that you thought was talking to you when you were unconscious, that's all."

"How dare you disrespect The Allspark!" Ironhide roared in rage. "It was our version of a God. It created our planet and the life upon its surface, providing it with more until the day of it's destruction to save your planet, so don't you dare treat it like some insignificant box!"

Optimus didn't jump to keep his soldiers in line this time, as they took their turns at badmouthing the now nervous human. He had stepped out of line and deserved everything he got.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do and I'd better get on it." Simmons said. The smug look was still in his eyes, alongside something dark in his gaze that made a shiver run down Will's spine. Whatever the man was planning, it wasn't going to be anything good.

Hours passed, and Maggie was becoming more and more frantic. She couldn't find Matt anywhere on the base, and no one had seen him leave. He had completely vanished. Her heels clicked on the floor faster as her pace quickened to almost a run as she ran to find someone who could help. She almost collapsed with relief when she spotted Captain Lennox loitering outside one of the buildings.

"Lennox! Captain Lennox!" She yelled as she ran the best she could in heels over to him. The dark haired man's head shot up and he watched the Australian woman run towards him.

"Hey Maggie, what's wrong?" He asked when he saw the frantic look in her eyes.

"I can't find Matt."

"Matt?"

"Megatron! He's gone!" Will frowned, now starting to understand why Simmons had looked so excited earlier. "I think Sector Seven might have him."

Maggie gasped in horror and grabbed him, her nails digging into his skin. "We have to find him; we don't know what they'll do to him."

"Don't worry, I'll get the Autobots and we'll get right on it. We'll find him." He felt the determination behind him words almost as strongly as he felt the oxygen rushing into his lungs, or his heart beating.

He grabbed the panicking woman by the arm and quickly led her into the hangar the Autobot's were residing in until further notice. Their optics flicked over to them as they entered the building and Optimus blinked in acknowledgement.

"Captain, Ms Madsen." He nodded.

"Optimus, have you seen Megatron anywhere?"

"Why?"

"Just answer the question, I need an answer."

"Not all day, and he was supposed to be at the meeting. He knew what time it was."

"I'm starting to think I was right." Will mumbled under his breath. The Autobots caught his words and Ironhide asked the question that was on all their processors.

"Right about what?"

"I think Sector Seven took him." Optimus' optics widened before filling with a cold, angry look.

"Why do you think that?" The red and blue mech asked, trying to control his anger and gather facts first before he acted rashly.

"No one had seen him all day around the base, no one has seen him leave, and I didn't like the look Simmons had in his eyes earlier."

"What look?"

"It was almost...smug. Like he knew something we didn't. Or that he'd taken something he didn't want use to take. Didn't you notice that he wasn't putting as much effort into his argument too."

The Autobots recalled the meeting and exchanged a look. The human Captain's words were starting to seem less like a theory, and more like truth to them now.

"Do you have Security cameras?" Maggie spoke, the first thing she had said since she had found him.

"Well, yeah...why?"

"It might have something on there, come on, and show me the way."

"How many more clips are you going to go through?"

"As many as I have to to find Matt."

"You love him, don't you?"

"More than I can describe. Just the thought of him back in the filthy hands of Simmons and that inhumane organisation makes me want to vomit." Maggie muttered the last part in annoyance.

It probably would have been funny to the military captain if it hadn't been such a serious situation, but he looked back to the cameras, scanning the screens with his hard eyes. "There!" He jabbed his finger on the pause button and then tapped the screen he was looking at. It clearly showed two S7 agents with a strong hold on the human Decepticon, wrestling him into the back of the SUV.

"So I was right, they did take him."

"How are we going to get him back?"

"I don't know. It might take a while."

"What! They could kill him in a 'while' what the hell are you thinking!"

"Maggie, there's a lot of things to do. We have to find the base, come up with a plan, but we will find him, I promise we will, we'll save him."

"How do you know that? We could already be too late."

"We're not okay. I have a feeling that Simmons won't be killing him any time soon. Not until he gets what he wants."


	2. Day Six

**Rated T for a bit of language.**

"So, we know that Megatron was last seen at 1400 hours yesterday in Hangar 13. The last person to see him was Sam before Sector Seven got involved. And we have a few minutes of tape on the security cameras of Simmons getting his hands dirty along with a few other personnel. Something he seems to have absolutely no problem with." Lennox said, muttering the last part under his breath angrily.

"So we know all that, but what about the different army bases Sector Seven has. He could be in any one of them, maybe even a new one we have no knowledge of." Maggie said, leaning over the back of the chair to watch Will pace the floor, wondering why it was him doing the pacing, shouldn't it be her?

"Damn it!" The man suddenly yelled out, slamming his hands down onto the surface of a desk. "We have no _fucking_ leads at all!"

"We have to find him." Maggie shifted in her chair as she felt the panic she had felt earlier coming back.

"We will find him. But...how...?"

The wall shuddered when Optimus leant his head back against it with a heavy sigh. He rubbed his face with a hand in a strangely human gesture and closed his optics against the cruel world around him.

It was like the situation with Bumblebee all over again, except, this time it was his brother who had been captured, his now fragile, human, transforming and changing brother. He wouldn't have had much luck even if only one Sector Seven agent had been holding him; the transformation was making him too weak, his body fighting against the unusual occurrence.

He had seen the security clip of Megatron being captured, and he had to keep his anger in check when he saw how his last living family member was being treated. The way that Simmons had slammed his fist into Megatron's human abdomen, the breath rushing out of him at the force of the punch, making him double over in the two agents' grip. He hadn't even had time to recover from that hit when another one was flying at his face, snapping his head to the side, blood running down his cheek.

The Prime had clearly seen the glee and amusement in Simmons' gaze as he had beaten the human Decepticon, who had absolutely no way to defend himself with his limbs restrained by the two thugs, down hard until he fell unconscious.

His hands clenched into fists, the metal shaking as he tensed in anger. He was shaking all over by keeping it in, it was like a burning inferno raging inside of his spark and spreading around his body.

"Optimus?"

He opened his optics and turned to look at Ratchet. The medic was frowning, but he had a slight look of concern in his eyes for his leader.

"Are you alright?" Optimus fought the urge to snort.

"Am I alright? I'm fine Ratchet. The person who's not fine is my brother."

"He'll be fine Optimus, in tip top shape when we find him."

"Don't lie to me Ratchet. I've known you for years, I know when you are. And besides, you saw that recording yourself, you saw what they did to him, I have the strongest feeling that it's going to get even worse for Megatron."

"We'll find him Optimus, we have to. We just have to find where they've taken him, and then we can rescue him. Then you can see for yourself that your brother is fine."

Optimus nodded, but he didn't believe it one bit. Throughout the war, he had listened to gut instinct, and his spark. Now both were screaming at him that his brother was in deep, deep danger.

"Mikaela? What's wrong?" The girl wiped her eyes quickly and turned to Sam.

"Nothing, I'm fine Sam." He looked at her red, puffy eyes, complete evidence of her crying. He wiped the remnants of the salt water off of her face and put a comforting arm around her, looking intently into her eyes.

"What wrong Kaela?"

"I...It's just..." She trailed off. "I'm worried about...Megs."

"You're worried about him? You're worried about the evil pile of metal that tried to kill us, that tried to steal The Allspark, that tried to _destroy the world?_ You're worried about him?"

"He's not like that anymore Sam." She snapped, jerking out of his embrace and standing up, walking over to the window and staring out like she wished Megatron to appear at any time.

"He's changed since he's become human. He's not...good...but...he's not bad either. He's different...better. He's my friend Sam, even though I've only known him for a few days, even though he tried to kill us, even though he tried to _destroy the world_, yes, I'm worried about him. And I will be until I see that he's safe alright. You should be too."

"Why should I?"

"The Allspark gave you a duty to keep an eye on him. But you never do. If you actually took a moment to speak with him civilly instead of starting arguments with him all the ti-"

"I don't start arguments with him!"

"You do Sam. You never speak to him like he's a human being. You speak to him like he's some kind of animal, like he's trash."

"He is..." Sam mumbled. Mikaela glared at him, the tears running down her face again.

"He's more than that!"

"Why do you care so much about him?" Sam said, finally asking the question that had been on his minds since he saw the two together, laughing and conversing like they'd known each other for years.

She turned away from him and looked back out of the window. "He reminds me of my Dad..." With that, she walked out, leaving the Witwicky boy standing there, feeling shocked, guilty, and like a complete and utter ass.

Ironhide slammed his fist into the wall, trying to ease some of his anger and annoyance without using his cannons and destroying the whole base. He had promised Maggie that he would protect Megatron from those Sector Seven thugs, and keep him out of danger until he turned back into a Cybertronian and could handle himself.

Yet that promise had been broken because he hadn't been watching the Decepticon. He hadn't been watching for a few hours, and that was all Sector Seven needed to get a plan into action and take Megatron from right under their noses.

He had broken that first promise to Maggie, but now he was making a new one to himself, he would find Megatron and get him back if it was the last thing he ever did.

Bumblebee watched his guardian release his rage on the wall and couldn't understand why everyone was so worried. Megatron put everyone in danger just by being alive, and now Ironhide, someone who had previously wanted to vaporize the man, was angry about him being taken, and muttering to himself about getting the human back.

He just didn't get it, weren't they better off without him?

Though looking at everyone who was worried for Megatron, who had become attached to him some time over the past few days, he could back up that statement to ignore their upset and angry faces.

If they wanted to help, so would he.

**Short chapter, but I'm saving my other ideas for the next one. I just wanted to set some bots' and human's opinions on the matter.**


	3. Day Ten

The blood pounded through his head like a violent drumbeat, making his head throb painfully along with it. When he first opened his eyes, the light they were exposed to stung like they were being burned, but he forced himself to adjust so he could look around. Through his blurred sight, all he could see were dark, damp stone walls, the room only lit by a single light bulb.

"Finally awake huh?" He looked over to where the voice came from and his eyes widened a fraction.

"Who the frag are you?" Once again, his human voice decided to make him sound weak by making his voice hoarse and crack in places. It obviously amused the other man, judging by the smirk that formed on his face.

"My name is Agent Simmons. From Sector Seven."

Megatron stiffened, the name of the organisation he feared slamming into his head like a ton of bricks, the memories of the forty years he was frozen, but aware as they tore parts from him also there. His fists clenched and his arm twitched. He looked down when he felt something stopping his arm from moving and saw the chains wrapped around his limbs. He pulled on them, a futile effort, only succeeding in tearing the skin around his wrists, making the blood trickle down his pale skin.

"What do you want?"

"You have been in my family's possession for more than forty years NBE-1. In short, I own you. And I wasn't about to let the Autobots take you away from me."

"I don't belong to anyone." He growled, his eyes flashing in anger as he yanked on his chains yet again, despite the pain in his wrists.

"That's where you're wrong. Very, very wrong." Simmons chuckled, he unlocked the bars to the cell, stepping in and walking forward with a syringe, crouching down in front of him. "Now if you don't settle down, I'm going to have to use this." He said in a patronising tone, smiling darkly.

Megatron stopped struggling and simply stared into the other man's eyes. Simmons relaxed and laughed, thinking he had scared the human Decepticon into submission. "Now-"

The Sector Seven agent fell back with a yelp when Megatron head butted him as hard as he could whilst chained to the floor. Simmons clamped a hand over his nose, looking at the blood on it when he pulled it away with an angry glare. "Right. Maybe this will make you co-operate a little more."

He jabbed the syringe into the Decepticon's arm, emptying it into his blood stream and leaving the cell, locking it and walking away with one last glower.

Megatron sat in confusion for a few minutes before he felt a sharp pain. He grunted and then gasped in pain as it spread all over his body. He fell back onto the floor, clenching his hands so hard that his nails cut into his skin. It felt like there was fire running through his veins accompanied by a feeling like when he had been frozen in the arctic, a sharp, stinging, cold feeling that cut through to his very bones.

Simmons watched through the mirrored glass with a sick satisfaction as the first scream tore through the air.

"Maggie, take a break already."

"I'm not going to stop until I find him."

"You're not going to find him if you pass out from sleep deprivation. Take a break, even if it's only a few hours, eat, take a shower, sleep, and then come back."

"It's my job to find things like this, I studied for years for it alright. We don't have any other analysts."

"Do you know any?"

"Other analysts?"

"No, other Autobots, of course other analysts, what else am I gunna be talking about?"

"Cool it...Well...I know someone who could maybe help..."

"Who?"

"His name's Glen Whitmann. He's not employed as an analysts, but he's one of the best I know, he's better than me."

"Have you got his number?"

"Yes, but it depends on how busy he is on whether he can make it here quickly or not."

"Well tell him it's a matter of life and death. It literally is Maggie. I know you probably don't want to hear it, but if we don't find Megatron soon..."

Maggie stood quickly, her chair falling on the floor behind her. She grabbed her phone and started dialling the number, walking out of the room to talk to the one young man that might just be able to help them.

_"Hello?"_

_"Glen? It's Maggie."_

_"Maggie! I haven't heard from you in a while girl! What's goin on?"_

_"I need your help?"_

_"With what? What's wrong?"_

_"A friend of mine, Matt, he's...he's..."_

_"He's what Mags?"_

_"He's been kidnapped."_

_"What! By Who!"_

_"Sector Seven."_

_"The organisation in that sound signature we unscrambled?"_

_"Yes, Matt...he's not completely human. He's one of the Cybertronians, but he got turned human by The Allspark."_

_"What do you need my help for? This should be something for the Autobots. I mean, it's one of their kind."_

_"We don't know where the base he's been taken is. He could die any minute, I just don't know what else I can do..."_

_"Where are you Mags? I'll be right there."_

_"Take a look on the net for a military base called Vern base. Were there. Please, hurry." _

_"I will. Stay clam alright. I'll help."_

_"Thank you Glen, you have no idea how much this means to me."_

_"It's nothing Maggie. I'd do anything for you, and I have nothing against helping someone who needs it. I'll try and be as fast as I can."_


	4. Day Seventeen

**Warning: There is some sensitive material in here. Contains violence, blood and torture. If you don't like reading things like that, then I suggest you turn back, because it's only going to get worse from here on out.**

After the burning stopped, there was a space of time in which he just lay there, shuddering from the aftershocks whilst staring at the ceiling, trying to focus on something to stop himself slipping under.

The shudders decreased until he only tremored every few minutes and he let out a quiet sigh of relief. The burning had reminded him of the dream he still had yet to figure out. Every time he thought he had a hold on it, it slipped through his mental fingers and he lost it again. It was so frustrating.

It was a full day until he saw Simmons again; at least, he thought it was a day. It sure felt like it.

But when the agent came back, there was a black rage storming in his eyes. He was holding what looked like sharp metal pins in his hand.

"Are you going to co-operate today?"

Megatron stayed silent, choosing not to answer, or act, until he knew what was wanted of him.

"I want to know the secrets of your kind, the weaponry. I want them so that we can crush every opposition to the United States of America with no mercy!"

He shifted slightly, and heard the chains move with him, scraping across the floor. He had been all for the human race becoming extinct when he had been a Cybertronian, but since he had become one of them, he had a feeling of...empathy?

He knew that that the secrets of their weaponry would cause more harm than good throughout the planet. Chaos would literally explode if humanity got their hands on it, their violent, eager hands that itched for weapons. Not all of them were like that, but he could see Simmons was one of them, itching for the alien tech that would make him famous for destroying all other army opposition. But it was...wrong.

Megatron steeled himself and shook his head, his eyes hard and cold as ice. Simmons' eyes darkened even further and he crouched down, grabbing one of the other man's wrists in his hand, wrenching it towards him.

The human Decepticon couldn't help but feel uneasy. What was this twisted human going to do?

He jolted up. A stinging pain consumed his hand. Simmons was pushing the pieces of metal under his fingernails. He pushed harder and the pain only increased. He jolted again but tried to remain calm. His reaction was what he craved and he wasn't about to give him one. At least not until he couldn't bear anymore. Soon he inserted a second piece of metal and he jolted up in pain. His fingers began to bleed under the nails. Blood oozed from under the fingernails and onto Simmons' fingers. He didn't care. All he cared about was watching him suffer and he couldn't exactly take all the pain from his face. After all, he was 'human'.

"Ah!" a jolt of pain hit him when he pushed harder into his hand. The pain was unbearable and he knew soon he would be showing that to Simmons and that pissed him off.

Each time was agony, his fingers burning like they were being dipped in acid. Blood ran from under the nails and down his fingers, dripping to the floor with a quiet drip.

When Simmons was finished, he kicked him hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him, before exiting the room and slamming the barred door into the frame, locking it with a jangle of keys and storming back down the corridor.

Maggie rubbed her eyes, trying to get herself out of the sleepy state she was in. She yawned almost silently and then dropped her fingers back to the keyboard, taking a sip of extra strong coffee and wrinkling her nose at the bitter taste.

"This could probably choke a donkey..." She muttered under her breath, looking down at the mug as she swished the liquid around the porcelain container.

"Maggie!"

She spun around in her chair, her face lighting up as she recognised the voice and her dark skinned friend running towards her, waving a hand in the air.

"Glen!" She leapt at him, hugging him as tightly as she could. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"It's good to see you too Mags." He smiled before laying a hand on her arm, his gaze turning serious. "Now, you said your friend had been taken by that government group in that signal we were tracking?"

"Sector Seven, and yes, we have security footage."

"Did you check the licence plate?"

"Of course we did. Apparently, it doesn't even exist. It's not registered under anyone's name or address."

"And you have no idea where the bases of operation these guys have are?"

"No, they're pretty good and staying on the down low. They get involved in things they shouldn't, but we hardly ever know why they want what they want, or where they go afterwards."

Glen was quiet for a minute, looking down at the floor as he thought hard on what to do.

Megatron slid the last blood needle out from under his fingernail and threw it away from him, watching the smear of bodily fluid it left behind as it clattered across the concrete surface.

It felt like he had been enduring it for hours and there was nothing he could do. His instinct was to punch him in his good for nothing face, but he couldn't and that frustrated him.

He hadn't noticed through everything how much his fingers really hurt. The pain got stronger when the needles were removed from under his fingernails. He looked down at his hands but could barely see through the tears that had welled up. His fingernails were bleeding underneath. It looked insane! Blood trickled from them and onto the floor. The stinging sensations centred at the ends of his fingers were almost impossible. He tried to take his mind off the pain, tried to think of something else.

Maggie.

What he wouldn't do to see her silky blond hair, her beautiful green/blue eyes, to hear her accent in her voice right now but if he gave Simmons what he wanted, then it would end in disaster for both her, and the rest of the world. It would mean the death of her and Mikaela, the two humans he really cared about. And even the ones he didn't. The Witwicky boy, Robert Epps, that college friend of Sam's, and that soldier that had made him use a wheelchair when his shoulder had been split open by the transformation.

He missed them, even if he wasn't friends with them. He never thought he'd ever say it, but he missed Optimus. He missed his brother. His eyes which had been welling up spilled over and he didn't wipe it away, letting it run down his cheek and onto his clothing.


	5. Day Twenty

**I skipped some time to speed this up. You can only have so many torture ideas :P Though I'm doing some research... I'm trying to avoids the medieval stuff ¬_¬**

The dark hallways seemed cruel and sinister as she walked down them, her sneakered feet squeaking on the floor accidentally. She heard a squelch and froze before slowly looking down, She had stepped into a pool of blood, the red liquid now all over the sole of her shoe.

She shuddered and kept on walking, trying to ignore the trail of bloody footprints she was leaving behind. As she walked she could see more and more blood on the walls and floors, dripping from the ceiling also. It seemed like the blood was seeping from between the bricks of the building.

She reached one of the open cells and peered inside. She couldn't see anything. She grabbed her mini torch out of her pocket and aimed it into the cell-

Maggie screamed as she woke, sitting bolt upright as her chest heaved with her quick and frightened breaths. She rubbed her eyes as her heart rate slowed down gradually and rested her head in her hands. She had been having these nightmares for days now. It had been slightly over a week since Sector Seven had taken Matt, and ever since, her nights had been filled with images of him, dead and bleeding in a cell.

The latest dream had been of him tied in chains and in shackles, blood dripping from his hanging form into a puddle on the floor. His lifeless eyes had stared at her in accusation, as if to say '_Why? Why didn't you come quicker? Why didn't you save me?'_

She hadn't told anyone about the nightmares, but people knew she was having them. They heard her scream at night in the base whilst they were working on finding the S7 location, they saw the dark circles under her eyes, saw the large amount of coffee she was drinking to keep her awake every day. They knew she was having nightmares; just not what they were about, though...they could guess. She wasn't the only one plagued by images of being too late.

Sam spent a lot of his nights comforting Mikaela. Lennox slept very little but when he did, he always woke up in a cold sweat, his heart beating like a hummingbird's. When Optimus recharged, he also saw the accusing look, his brother yet another lost loved one, another life of their species gone quicker than he could mourn. Ironhide was always filled with guilt, the look making him beat himself up over not protecting Megatron like he had promised.

The nightmares were all very different, but they were all filled with the same outcome.

But none of the nightmares could compare to the experience.

Megatron blinked as he was once again roused from unconsciousness by cold water hitting his body. He looked up and saw Simmons and a few other agents glaring down at him.

"What is it this time? More needles? Beating? C'mon human, what do you want to do to me today?" He said, his snappy and sharp tongued attitude temporarily taking over.

He soon kicked it mentally, cursing his natural attitude to hell.

He grunted in pain as his face came into contact with the floor. The fists and hard footwear slammed into him from what seemed like every angle, as soon as one pulled back, another two were swinging back in. With his hands shackled and chained, he couldn't even defend himself, never mind fight back.

A foot slammed into his stomach and the oxygen rushed out of him, before he could take another breath, it happened again, and again. His stomach ached in pain, and he was sure at least a few ribs were broken by now. His lungs started to burn as they were deprived of air and he chocked feebly, the noise becoming harsher yet weaker as time stretched on.

The last thing he saw before blacking out yet again was Simmons' angry yet satisfied eyes.

"Sam! There you are!" Judy Witwicky called out as the door slammed shut behind the teen. "I thought you were never coming home! You spend so much time with those Autobots now!"

"Sorry mom, I just got tied up in some problems and forgot to call."

"Problems? What problems Sammy?"

"I'll tell you later." He sighed heavily. "I'll be back down in a minute, I'm just gunna change out of these clothes, I must stink like a dumpster by now."

"Take a shower!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

He threw his bag into his room and peeled his shirt off, throwing it on top of the laundry basket as he made his way to the shower. He stood under the warm water, letting it relax his tense muscles. He sighed in relief as the ache of his taut muscles vanished almost completely and he turned off the water, stepping out and drying himself.

After getting dressed he flopped down onto his bed and dozed peacefully for a few minutes."

"SAM! DINNER!" He groaned as his father's voice carried up the stairs and assaulted his ear drums. Nobody was ever quiet in his house. He reluctantly got up from his comfy heaven of stuffing and feathers before dragging himself down the stairs and sitting at the table.

He could tell his parents were watching him as they ate, wanting to ask him something. His mother soon broke the silence and asked him what he had promised to tell her earlier.

"So Sam...what's bothering you?" He sighed and played with his food, moving it around his plate with his fork.

"Remember the government group that came and arrested us because I'd been in contact with the Autobots?"

"The ones that stole my plants?"

"The ones that were all over my lawn?"

"That's...that's not the point...But anyway...they took one of my...friends because he's not exactly human."

"What do you mean Sam?" Ron Witwicky asked his son, thoroughly confused.

"He used to be one of the bots...but he turned into a human. And now Sector Seven has him and we can't find him."

"Do we know him?"

"Well...sorta." Sam said, uncertain that he should tell his parents, fearing the wrath of his mother's baseball bat, even if it wasn't aimed at him.

"It'sMegatron." He said quickly.

"Wait, say that again, you were a little too quick." Sam took deep breath and repeated.

"It's Megatron." He flinched at his parents silence. The two just stared at him. He was a little afraid that he had broken their brains or something.

"Megatron? Megatron as in...the Decepticon. The Decepticon leader? The Decepticon leader that tried to take over the world? The Decepticon leader that tried to destroy MY LAWN?" His father yelled angrily.

"Ron!" His mother snapped. "Who cares about the lawn. We're talking about the evil robot that chased my baby through a city and tried to kill him. My baby!"

"Why are you even trying to help him? Just let him rot." His father muttered, cringing at the look Judy gave him. Megatron may have tried to kill people...but to wish death on him made them just as bad.

"Mom, the Allspark gave me a duty. It told me to keep watch over Megatron and keep him safe. He was turned into a human as a second change that he won't mess up. As much as I hate to admit it, apart from the human culture, he's coping pretty well. I have to find him."

"Who cared what the Allspark said. He tried to kill our race Sam, he deserv-"

"Ron! Stop!" Judy snapped at her husband again, thrusting a fork at him. "Eat!"

Her husband grumbled quietly before continuing to eat. He hadn't had his coffee yet, not having time this morning, he was always grumpy when he hadn't drank it.

"Sam, honey. You've changed since the incident with the bots. You've grown into a man, and you can make your own decisions. Do whatever you think is right. If your heart is telling you to help Megatron, then do it. Just promise me something."

"What mom?"

"Promise me that you'll bring him round to meet us some time. Not so I can attack him with a bat, so I can make sure that he really has changed. Who known, your father might even like him!"

"I'll see what I can do...but...it depends on the condition he's in when we find him."

"If he's alive, he may need some time depending on what they're doing to him, but maybe the social contact will help him recover. I'm a mother, I know how to deal with emotional pain, even if he's a giant alien robot and not my child."

"Okay, thanks for the advice mom." He got up and went to go up the stairs to grab his bag and meet Bumblebee outside. "Oh, and Dad?"

"Yeah Sam?"

"You just dropped food down your shirt."

"...Aw crap..."

"Ron! We're at the table! Language!"


	6. Day Twenty Seven

read on the net that it takes about a month to die of starvation which is perfect time for this fic, so I'm using that estimate, just gotta make sure he gets some water xD I'll make someone in S7 take pity on him a few times.

* * *

><p>"Glen, have you found anything?"<p>

"Not yet, I'm still trying to think of a way to find out where the hell they could be."

Maggie sighed and gracelessly flopped down into a chair next to her dark skinned friend. The light from the computer screen glinted off of the lenses of his glasses and his fingers danced across the keyboard. The information flew across the screen, but Maggie didn't take any of it in. The longer they took to find Matt, the more distracted she became.

The once nightmares had become daydreams, and finally memories. The image of the lifeless and accusing eyes never left her mind as he fought to try and find him. She kept on telling herself that he was alive, and that they would find him before things got even worse, but the more time that passed, her hope and will started dwindling into almost nothing.

The only thing that kept her going was Optimus, strangely enough. The big mech was full of determination and enough hope to fill everyone in the base and encourage them to keep trying, to find a way to track Sector Seven down. His blue optics were troubled, and it became obvious that he was suffering thoughts of possible outcomes also. About as obvious as it had been to look at Maggie and tell that that was all she thought about lately.

She tried to balance out her memories. Whenever she saw the cell, its surfaces dripping with blood, she quickly shook herself and thought of something positive. Matt's smile, his naive nature, that cute little confused look he got when he didn't understand something human, their first kiss...

She smiled as she thought of the first time they had kissed, how awkward Megatron had been. It may have been an awkward moment. But it was one god damned awkward moment that she treasured with her whole heart.

"Ms Madsen? Are you alright?" She looked up to see Optimus looming over her. 'that's what the shadow was' she thought. His optics were full of concern as he stared down at her and she smiled reassuringly.

"I'm fine Optimus; I'm just a little worried. And didn't I tell you to quit with the 'Ms Madsen' crap? Call me Maggie."

"You're not the only one that worries for him." He sat down carefully on the ground so she wouldn't strain her neck as much looking up at him. "I can't help but think that every minute that we don't find them, he suffers even more."

"You love him? Don't you?"

"He's my brother. The only family I have left. I have never wished any harm upon him despite his actions. Now he is human, the feeling to keep him safe is even stronger. He's much more fragile now, physically and mentally. He may be my older brother, but my parents always used to say that the roles were reversed, that I was the one who kept him out of trouble rather than the other way around, that one day I would be the one having to help him."

"I guess they were right." She sighed sadly. "All I see at night now is him, in a cell. Never alive, his eyes are always lifeless and almost...accusing. That's is my fault he's dead because I wasn't quick enough."

"Even if he is dead, you know he wouldn't blame you Maggie."

"He's not dead! Don't think like that!" She suddenly yelled, her emotions exploding in an outburst of panic and anger. The room went silent after her shout, all looking towards her and the Autobot leader with a sense of pity in their gazes.

"I never said that he was. I am merely saying, that he would never blame you for anything that happened to him. He never would."

"He's right." Maggie turned in her chair to see Mikaela behind her, her cheeks streaked with mascara and her eyes red and puffy from crying. "He loves you too much for that. Everyone's worried, but we just have to think positive."

"Why are you so worried?" Maggie asked. She wasn't asking with venomous intent, she was truly curious why.

"He reminds me so much of my Dad." The teen said, getting out some tissue and dabbing at her eyes, trying to remove some of the mascara streaks. "He's got the same attitude, and he does so many things similarly."

"Where is your father anyway?"

"He's in prison. He got arrested for Grand Theft Auto and even when the cops had him, he still refused to say who his accomplices were." She said, sniffing miserably. "With Megatron, my supposed 'uncle', he is that in so many ways. He's so much like my father, that this is almost like losing another. I just want him safe, like he wanted me when Barricade took me. Lennox said he could see how worried he was." Mikaela chuckled.

Maggie smirked. "He like that isn't he. He tried to hide his emotions, but he never succeeds."

They both laughed despite their sadness, Optimus joining in once he realised the truth behind their statement of the Decepticon's behaviour.

* * *

><p>If Megatron had thought that having his senses decreased by becoming human was strange and unnerving, this was pure hell. The room had become completely silent, the lights turned off so that the room was so dark that he couldn't even see his own hand in front of him and even though that may be, they had still tied a blindfold over his eyes after a few minutes, wanting to make him know that they were controlling only thing he could smell was his own sweat and the horrible, lingering scent of his blood.<p>

Sensory Deprivation.

It wasn't a painful, agonizing torture, but it made him incredibly nervous. Anything could be happening around him and he would have absolutely no idea. He hated it with his whole spark...or heart. He didn't know how long he had been here, but days seemed like a good estimate. He wrapped his arms around his middle, the discomfort from not eating for over a week really starting to show.

He had had very little water too, and he felt incredibly weak from dehydration. The sweat from the episodes of pain also made him dry out faster, so if this water deprivation kept up much longer, he didn't know what would happen, but he didn't think it would be good. He didn't know much about humans, but he knew that if they were left a long time without water, they would die from the dehydration. The same for starvation, though that took longer.

He shivered at the cold in the cell, hugging himself tightly to try and hold some heat in.

* * *

><p>"Guys! I think I found a way we can find them!" Glen gulped as everyone, even the Bots and Cons, suddenly surrounded him, their eyes, or optics, fully focused on him.<p>

"Does anyone have Simmons' cell number?" He asked shaking himself out of his self-consciousness.

"Yes, unfortunately." Will said, not even attempting to mutter the last part. He got out his cell and searched for Simmons' number. "I had it just in case anything I needed S7's help with popped up."

"if you call him, I could track the signal and find where its coming from, that'll tell us where the base is!"

"What do I call him about?" Lennox asked, silently wondering why he was the one who had been nominated to do this.


	7. Day Twenty Nine

Megatron's body hit the floor with a dull thud as a S7 agent threw him to the floor, but he couldn't care less about that. He was too busy trying to cough up the water that had gone into his lungs. He choked up the last of it and slumped on the floor, breathing hard after the oxygen deprivation he had gone through whilst being under the surface of the water.

He shouldn't have been surprised that Water Boarding had been on the list of torture they seemed to have written down. He winced as the door slammed shut behind the agent, the sound echoing through his skull.

Almost every inch of his body throbbed, at least two thirds of his skin covered in black, blue, purple and yellow bruises. He was sure that Simmons' and his thugs would be aiming to get that last third identical to the others soon.

He bit his lip, not caring about the action splitting it open, making the blood run free again. He slowly and carefully tried to move himself into a less awkward position, the noise of pain he made at his broken ribs shifting muffled by his mouth being forced shut by his teeth clenching together.

He collapsed into a position that was more comfortable, that took away some of the pain, even if it was only a tiny fraction. His eyelids felt heavy but he forced himself to keep them open. He couldn't be vulnerable at this time, he couldn't afford for them to do something to him without his knowledge whilst he slept.

Primus, he hoped the Autobots came to save him.

* * *

><p>Simmons stared into the cell at the human Decepticon. The man had been beaten down in the space of two weeks. His skin was practically covered in bruises they had inflicted, blood marking some parts of his skin and his clothes filthy and torn.<p>

No matter how it looked...he didn't like doing this. He seemed sadistic, but it was through orders. The head of Sector Seven was completely obsessed with Cybertronians, when Megatron had fallen out of their possession, he had been furious. He wanted the secrets to their weaponry as much as a druggie would want his next fix, a weird explanation, but pretty damned accurate.

He was against the harming of another human being; all he had wanted was to get Megatron into a cell, where he couldn't harm himself, or anyone else. But then the orders had come in for the torture to start. He had fought night and day so far for it to stop, but he was unheard, as usual.

He had always been told that he was quite a good actor when he tried, so he had to use that advantage when it came to the torture periods. He had to seem like he enjoyed the torture, like he enjoyed causing Megatron pain. He had seen the change in him over the month since he had been turned human, and the resentment he had felt had quickly disintegrated until it was non-existent.

That was why one of the other agent had tortured him today. Water Boarding was a frightening torture to say the least. The feeling of the oxygen in your lungs slowly running out until you couldn't hold your breath any longer and had to try and breathe, even if it was only water that entered your lungs. The was the burning that came with the water filling where there should be oxygen, the body attempted to fight, before it became weak and no longer resistant to the drowning.

He hated watching it, never mind actually inflicting it on someone.

As night approached, he sent the other S7 agents outside to guard, while he stayed and watched Megatron. He waited until he was sure none of them would come back, before grabbing a battle of water from the side and the keys to the cell. He opened the cell and walked in, watching as Megatron's rust red eyes glanced at him and hardened, as if he bracing himself for something else.

Simmons sighed internally and broke the lid off of the top of the bottle of water. If he remembered right , after Water Boarding, the victim's throat was rather painful afterwards, especially if salt water was used. He looked over at the large metal container that had contained the water and he could clearly smell the salt. He shook his head slightly and crouched in front of the Decepticon, setting the water down and then carefully lifting him up and resting him against the wall.

He saw the confusion in Megatron's eyes and sighed out loud this time. "I know you're probably wondering what the hell is going on, but this isn't a new form of torture. Do you think I like doing all this to you?"

He jerked with silent laughter and the nod his question received and grinned slightly before it faded. "I'm doing this because of orders. Let's just say, I'm a very good actor in front of the others."

"Then why aren't you acting now?" Simmons winced at the hoarse, cracking and painful voice that came from the other man.

"I sent them all outside to guard."

"I'm not getting out of here am I?" The S7 agent paused at that, thinking.

"I'm sure the Autobots are looking for this base right now. They'll come for you."

"What'll happen to you?"

"I'll...I'll probably be arrested."

"I can tell them not to."

"You don't have to do that." Megatron was silent after that; it was obvious that he thought that if he spoke again, his voice would completely crack.

Simmons grabbed the water bottle again and handed in to the Con. They sat in a companionable silence until the bottle became empty and the other human took it back.

"I've gotta leave before anyone comes back in. "He patted him on the shoulder gently before closing the cell door behind him and locking it. Just as he was about to walk away, he hesitated, wondering if he should tell the Decepticon that...

"Megatron...Just so you know, I'm sorry but, the torture is going to get a little worse from here on. You might..." He didn't finish the sentence, he didn't have to. He saw the realization dawn in the rusty eyes.

"I'm still not saying anything." Simmons smiled softly.

"I know..."

* * *

><p>"I don't know, just tell him that there's a loose NBE around destroying stuff or something."<p>

"I know! Blame Starscream!"

"I bet Megs sure wouldn't mind that."

"We are not getting anyone else tortured!"

"Why not? Screamers an ass."

"Screamer?"

"Sorry, it's my nickname habit again."

"Guys, this is completely off subject!"

"Sorry..."

"Sorry Lennox..."

"Thank you!"

Will shook his head and started dialling Simmons' number, waving away questions as it started ringing.

_"Y'ello?"_

"Agent Simmons, it's Captain Lennox." He put the phone on loudspeaker for everyone else to hear as Optimus threw him a pointed look.

_"What can I do for you Captain Lennox?"_

"I'm looking for NBE-1." He ignored the frantic waves at him and turned his back to the others in the room.

_"...Wait a minute." _There was a clatter on the other side of the line and a curse as something was dropped before the S7 agent started speaking again.

_"Sorry, I had to encrypt this line. Now...you're looking for Megatron right? And tracking this number as we speak?"_

Lennox froze, stuttering as he tried to think of something to say.

_"Keep talking, and keep tracking."_

"I'm sorry, what?"

_"I'm only following orders when it comes to all of this. It doesn't mean I agree with it. If tracking this number helps get him out, then keep doing it Chubster."_

Glen straightened. "How did he know I was here?" He wondered aloud quietly without taking his eyes off of the screen.

_"How's the situation with Starscream and the other Seekers?"_

Will suddenly remembered he was supposed to be talking. "They haven't shown up in a while, we think they've backed off for a while after the last attack. We sure beat their asses, too bad they haven't got a mommy to run back to."

Simmons snorted with laughter on the other end of the phone and made a noise of agreement. _"That's true. And how's your daughter?"_

Will's face lit up at the mention of his precious little girl. "She's fantastic, she's started walking. She was just sat there and then she just got up and walked over to Sarah. Sure, she was a little wobbly, but it was good for her first time."

"_Hm, you got a super kid."_

"Nah, she's just my special little girl."

_"Talking about the kid or your wife now?"_

"Don't make me choose." Glen mouthed to Lennox that he had found the base's location and Lennox cleared his throat. "I gotta go, take care."

_"Will do Will, see you soon." _The call cut off and he turned back to everyone, smirking at their faces.

"What? Sometimes you just have to be straightforward." He turned to Glen. "Where's the base?"

"I tracked the call to the Tonopah underground military base in Nevada"

"That's two and a half hours away."

"Then we'd better go now. Optimus?"

"Autobots, humans and Decepticons. Roll out!"


	8. Day Thirty

**Thank you to all reviewers. I'm sorry for the shortness, but I'm saving ideas for the next chapter, which I will probably get done by tomorrow, as the idea is clawing at me to get written. **

**WARNING: Some pretty bad language. May bump up the rating next chapter for extensive torture. If anyone has any extreme torture ideas they would like to see, put your hands on the keyboard and let your fingers dance to the tune of your mind :P**

**I hope to hear at least _some_ ideas from people. Anyway, enough for little young me (can't really call me old, I'm only halfway through my teens xD). Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Simmons hung up and tossed his phone onto the table, running his hand through his hair.<p>

He heard a throat clear behind him and spun around in his chair. He face paled as he saw the head of S7.

He was standing...right behind him. He must have been the whole time.

"Well, I find this rather interesting Agent Simmons. You told the Autobots where to find us. I'm hurt."

"Sir, I didn't te-."

"You kept them on the line long enough for them to find us. You want them to find this alien so bad, we'll make sure they do. But the condition he's in...I can't promise it'll be good."

Simmons cried out as a fist struck him in the face hard enough to send him crashing into the wall. His head cracked against the solid surface and he lay there, slumped against the wall as his vision swam. He vaguely felt his arm being pulled up and something being clamped around it, but he was too dazed to see what.

As his vision cleared, he looked to his wrist and saw it was handcuffed to a pipe on the wall. He yanked on it with an annoyed growl, but it did little.

"I wouldn't try escaping." His boss lifted him up by the back of his shirt and threw him into a chair that was close to the pipe. From there, there was a good view into the cell of Megatron slumped in the corner, not moving apart from his breathing. "There, we wouldn't want you to miss the show now would we?

* * *

><p>"Get out of the way!" Lennox yelled out as Ironhide swerved to avoid another car that was skipping lanes.<p>

"Fraggin' idiots, where did they learn how to drive?" Ironhide grumbled, getting annoyed at all the switching he had to do.

"That's the point Hide, they didn't learn." The black Topkick chuckled lowly before getting serious again. This was no time to be joking around.

Optimus was really proving that fact, he was driving ruthlessly. Everyone got out of his way, but if they hadn't, it didn't look like he would have stopped anyway.

He could hear the thrumming of Blackout's rotors above him, the black copter making sure to stay with the group due to his cargo. He was carrying Frenzy, Decibel, Leo, Marissa and Epps as he was flying, Sam and Mikaela preferring to ride with Bumblebee, and Maggie wanting to go with Optimus, Glen tagging along, lugging a laptop, to make sure they were going in the correct direction.

"Prime, how much further?"

"We have about an hour left, if it was up to me, I'd speed up."

"You're already at the maximum speed limit Prime, and even though you're a vehicle, people can still tell you're pissed, it's kind of unnerving."

"I apologize."

"Don't worry about it Optimus." Ratchet said as he pulled up next to the Peterbuilt. "You have a right to be angry. This is your brother that is being treated like scrap."

"I just wish this traffic would move faster!" A car pulled in front of him and he slammed the brakes down, sighing heavily in irritation. He could see that Maggie was just as frustrated. She just wanted to find Megatron.

When it happened again a few minutes later, she finally snapped. She slammed her hand down onto the horn and yelled out of the window. "You Asshole!"

"Fuck you bitch!"

"Oh yeah pal, flip me off, can't you see there's a traffic jam!" She slumped into the seat before suddenly realizing what she had done. "Optimus I'm so sorry, I didn't hurt you when I hit your horn did I?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine Maggie, you have no need to worry."

"Still...Sorry."

Optimus held back a laugh as he heard Ironhide's quiet curse and Will yelling out of the window at another car.

"FUCK YOU!"

* * *

><p>Megatron jumped as much as his battered and bruised body allowed him to as the cell door slammed open. His eyes narrowed in confusion at the person who stepped inside. It was a tell, grey haired man in a suit, his large glasses resting on his nose. His dark beady eyes were cold, calculating and cruel as he looked at the Decepticon leader.<p>

He felt some of his earlier unease return at the sight of this man; he didn't look anything like the other. The atmosphere of violence and evil hung around him so heavy that you could probably see it if you looked hard enough.

He saw a glint of a knife, his eyes widened in fear, and then hell as he knew it began.


	9. Day Thirty Part Two

**I know I took pretty long! I'm so sorry! *hides behind couch* But I did a longer chapter for you all! I hope that makes up for it! Enjoy please! **

**Note: There may be other torture techniques mentioned in the future chapters. The way I set it out, was that I didn't write out every torture scene, but they will be mentioned. How? I think you can probably guess, but if not, you'll have to wait and see :P**

* * *

><p>"Prime! This isn't looking too good!"<p>

"What's going on Ironhide? What are you talking about?" Optimus' attention was pulled away from his old friend when he saw the outside of the base. It was surrounded by Sector Seven agents, most likely armed with sabot rounds and freeze guns.

The Autobots crouched behind some of the various buildings that were around the main part of the base.

"We need a plan; we can't just go rushing in there. The humans may be harmed." Ratchet said, zooming his vision in on the guards.

Optimus was about to reply when they heard a faint strangled scream from inside of the base, the noise of agony echoing off of the walls. His optics widened at the noise, instantly identifying it as hid brother's due to the tone, and he had had a lot of time to memorise his last living family member's voice of the years.

His optics quickly narrowed and became a brighter blue, like twin blue flames as the anger and rage rushed through him like poison.

Before anyone could stop him, he had charged his blaster, and aimed at the humans, letting a shot go. The humans yelped and tried to get out of the blast range, but they were too late. The blast almost vaporized their bodies at impact, and the Autobots stared in shock at their leader.

"Prime?"

"Over the years, I have NEVER heard my brother scream like that! NEVER! I am DONE showing mercy to these cruel, sadistic humans from this organisation, and I could care less about their well being!"

Ratchet opened his mouth to try and calm his leader down, but was stopped by Ironhide's hand on his shoulder.

"Leave it Ratchet. He's right. If we don't act now, they'll just keep on going. It may seem wrong, but the humans won't do anything about one of their own. Megatron isn't completely human and neither are we, they're not going to listen to us."

"Captain Lennox. We'll take care of the humans outside. You get in there and find Megatron, and hurry, I fear for his life."

* * *

><p><p>

Simmons wanted to take his eyes off of the scene in front of him, he really did. He hated watching this, but he couldn't stop, he was frozen in shock as the screams continued.

His skin went pale as he continued to watch, he was feeling nauseous from watching the Sector 7 leader peel back a part of the skin on Megatron's still healing shoulder, to expose the metal beneath.

"My, aren't you a very interesting specimen? I'll be sure to give you to my scientists after I'm done with you here. I expect it will be far easier to deal with a co-operative, dead subject, that a rebellious, living one, don't you think?" The man's voice came through the speakers, followed by a hoarse groan of pain from Megatron.

He pulled furiously at his bonds, not caring that he was starting to bruise and scratch his skin. He had to get out of these before it was too late.

* * *

><p><p>

The Sector 7 guard turned at the sound of running footsteps, and then let out a grunt as the bullet hit him in the head, before falling to the ground. His lifeless eyes didn't see the dark haired soldier running past him.

Lennox didn't glance at the body, learning a long time ago not to do that, as it would stay in your mind. That was often part of what drove soldiers mad in war, the knowledge that they had killed an actual person. If he didn't look, they weren't as real. At least, that's how he viewed it, and how he dealt with it in his own personal way.

He killed guard after guard in the hallways, shooting them only because they had been told to kill anyone who entered. It was kill, or be killed in this situation, and as much as he didn't like the loss of life, he had to remember that these people had willingly participated in torturing Megatron, only a few exceptions like Simmons set apart.

With these thoughts, of the sadistic agents harming the man he had gotten to know a little better over the few months, the resolve to find him and the anger to kill rose, making him hurry faster through the hallways. He wasn't really friends with Megatron, but they had come to a tolerant relationship. It might have become more, an actual friendship, if Sector 7 hadn't gotten involved, and now...he didn't know what state he was going to find the other man in.

He burst into each of the rooms, hoping to find the right one. He kicked the door of one open and blinked, before rushing forward at the sight of the Sector 7 ally handcuffed to a bar on the wall. "Simmons!" He quickly looked around for a key to unlock the cuffs, before giving into his impatience, and just shooting the chain in the middle.

Simmons yelped at the shot and then glared at Lennox. "Are you crazy? Wait- never mind that, you have to help Megatron before it's too late!"

"Where is he?" It was then that Lennox looked up and saw through the mirrored window, seeing the knife buried in Megatron's shoulder. At first, he had the same reaction as Simmons, frozen in shock. That was before his military training kicked in and he sprinted back out of the room, shooting the lock on the cell and throwing the door open.

The Sector 7 leader spun around, the knife he had a hold of that had been buried in Megatron, moving with him, thus cutting through the layers of skin and spraying blood across the wall and floor. Megatron let out a strangled cry of pain, and slumped against the wall, looking to be thankfully unconscious. At least he wouldn't be able to feel the pain.

Lennox snarled as the S7 leader started to beg for his life. "Please, have mercy!"

"People like you don't deserve just warnings!" He growled, before pulling the trigger and watching in a sense of satisfaction as the sadistic man died.

The Captain slid to the floor beside Megatron. His eyes widened at all he could see. Now that he was closer, he could see so many things that he had missed. The Decepticon had multiple wounds and scratches on his body, some deep, some shallow, and there was hardly any skin that wasn't covered in a various colour of bruise. His ribs showed, showing that he hadn't eaten for the weeks he had been here for and his skin was covered in blood, sweat and dirt.

Lennox shouted to Simmons over the speakers, yelling to him to find something to use as a bandage before Megatron bled out. The former S7 agent came back with several rolls of gauze. The soldier could have kissed the other man, if not for the fact he was keeping pressure on a wound. "Get over here and help me!" He took a closer looked at the wound and swore. "Shit!"

Simmons stumbled forward, nearly tripping over himself in his hurry. He dumped the rolls of gauze on the floor, careful to avoid the blood. "What? What do you want me to do?"

"Take over, hold the pressure on." Simmons did so, and watched as Will rushed out of the room, coming back with a needle and thread to stitch the wound up. "We're not going to get him out of here alive unless we try and close that wound. Its deeper than I thought it was."

He quickly dabbed the blood away from the cut so he could see, and then hurriedly started stitching it up, not caring that it wasn't perfect, only caring that it would help. He picked up one of the rolls of gauze and started tightly wrapping the wound, and the others that needed to be.

"That's the best I can do for now. The only medic we have with us is Ratchet, and there's no way he can fit in this part of the building." He grunted as he picked Megatron up. He was surprised and disgusted at the weight of the man; there was barely anything to him. "We need to get him out of here now; I think he's going into hypovolemic shock."

He looked down at the unconscious Decepticon and saw the signs of shock clearly. His skin was worryingly pale, his lips were a light blue colour, he was cold, he was sweating, and he could feel a rapid pulse when he had checked it earlier.

"Well shouldn't we treat him for that first?"

"One of the things you have to do with shock is maintain the body temperature, this room is freezing alright. The sooner we get him out and get him warm, the quicker he'll recover, now move!" He shoved past the agent and ran as quickly as he could down the hallway without jostling the wound or dropping the man in his arms. He was furious that the strong man had been reduced to this, but there was no one to put the blame on anymore. He had already killed the man who had put this one's life on a thread. There was nothing more he could do to that monster.

"C'mon Megatron, just hang in there!"

* * *

><p><p>

Optimus' blue optics fell on the dead humans scattered around the outside of the base. Normally, he would detest the loss of life. But he couldn't feel any remorse for these humans after what they had willingly done. He had heard the multiple gun shots going on in the building, and then they had stopped, He didn't know why, but he hoped it didn't mean that Captain Lennox had been taken down by some of the guards. He would hate to lose a friend like the brave human.

He looked down at Maggie, the human female leaning on the wall, hugging herself as her teary eyes fixed on the ground. She had wanted to go in with Lennox so badly, but they had stopped her, explaining that if she went in, there was a high possibility she would get killed. Optimus wished he could say something to comfort her, but he didn't know the outcome, he just prayed to Primus that his brother was still alive.

He looked up as he heard one of the fire doors bang open, Simmons stumbling out and holding it open and Lennox came out with something in his arms. Or rather….someone. His optics widened and filled with his emotional pain as he saw the broken and bleeding form of his brother resting in the arms of the soldier. He vaguely heard Maggie and Mikaela cry out in distress at the sight, Frenzy chattering nonsense nervously, Decibel beeping in worry, but he was too focused on his brother, the blood covering his pale skin, the multiple wounds and bruises all over him. He gathered that since there was no one else with the former S7 agent and the soldier, that the man who had done all of this, was now dead.

'Dead was too good for him.' He thought bitterly.

Maggie couldn't stop the tears trailing down her cheeks. She could see the reactions of everyone around her; Mikaela was in a teary state, just like her. Sam and Leo were in a frozen state of shock, while Marissa had her eyes narrowed as she looked at the wounds she could see from where she was. Epps was shaking his head at the sight, before turning away, unable to look. Even Ironhide looked disgusted at the state of the human.

'How could they do this?' Ironhide thought, his disgust filling his very spark. He had no remorse for these humans' deaths, and he could now see that Ratchet felt the same way. The medic's fists and jaw were clenched as tight as they could be as his scanner repeatedly told him the wounds and other various problems. His HUD was going crazy with the medical information, and the sheer amount of it that was bad, made his whole spark fill with rage. Ratchet could now see what Ironhide had said, he could remember it clearly.

'Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive….and violent race.' They were a terribly violent race, some of the verging on what had been done here. He told himself to remember that not all of them were bad, but his respect for the goodness of the race was diminishing.

"Let's get him out of here guys." Lennox said firmly, before anyone could say anything else. Optimus and Ratchet looked at each other, deciding on who should take Megatron. Optimus wanted his brother close, but he could see the logic in letting Ratchet take him. Ratchet nodded slightly at Optimus' gesture to take the human, and transformed quickly, opening the doors to the back of the ambulance. Lennox quickly got in and the doors shut.

It could have been viewed as cruel, but Maggie knew why she wasn't allowed in the back of the ambulance with Lennox and Marissa. They both had a degree of medical profession, even if it was only very little when it came to Lennox, and it was more important to save Megatron's life, that her little selfish desires. She got back into Optimus as he transformed, and she leaned back in the seat, content that they had at least found Megatron.

He would be safe now.

* * *

><p><p>

As soon as they had gotten Megatron in the back of the ambulance, they had started acting out Ratchet's instructions. They rolled Megatron onto his side unless he unconsciously vomited due to the shock. They quickly cleaned and wrapped any wounds they could see, the bandages varying from strips of gauze, to adhesive pads and tape. By the time they had finished, almost the whole of Megatron's right arm was bandaged, the upper arm, and wrist down to the hand on his left, his left leg was wrapped up to the knee after they had discovered some blood soaking the filthy pair of jeans he was wearing, they had ripped the fabric apart to find a knife wound right up the side of the leg, and almost his whole chest was also bandaged. The parts that weren't covered in the gauze were patched with the adhesive tape and pads. His face was mostly undamaged, apart from a bruise on his left cheek which could have been gained from a backhand or a punch, and a knife wound that was now covered by a thick adhesive pad.

After they had finished bandaging him, and wrapped him up in several blankets, they were trying to calm themselves from the adrenaline rush that had come from hurrying to save a life.

"Well done you two. You did well." Ratchet said; his voice quiet from an emotion they couldn't identify.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Marissa yawned, relaxing against the side of the metal bed she was leaning on as she and Lenox sat on the floor, having no where else to sit. The inside of the ambulance was different from others. It was bigger. On one side, there was the metal bed, covered by a thin mattress that was secured to the top. Ob the other side was a few metal lockers, filled with various pieces of medical equipment that could be used to treat variety of different things.

"I think he'll be just fine, as long as we keep the wounds from getting infected, he should recover rather quickly...physically at least."

Marissa made a noise of agreement, knowing that there was going to be a large amount of mental recovery to go through also.

"Uhh, guys, we might have to stop off at the nearest gas station. I'm low on fuel." Bumblebee's voice buzzed (no pun) over the comm. They heard Optimus sigh heavily and agree before they all pulled off the road into the gas station, all deciding to refuel whilst using Simmons, Epps and their papers from the government sort out how to get it for free. It wasn't like they could pay; they didn't have any money on them.

Marissa groaned as she realized that she had left her bag with Blackout, she needed her phone in there to call the medics at the base and tell them not to panic. "Blackout landed in a field a short distance away, I'm going to go and ride with him okay, I left my bag with him."

"Okay, see you later." Lennox smiled; the woman smiled back tiredly and exited the ambulance. Lennox stood up and stretched, before looking down at Megatron again. He almost jumped through the roof of Ratchet's alt mode when he saw a pair of rust red eyes staring at him.

"Megatron! Christ! How are you feeling?"

"...not good..." Came the quiet voice, it was hoarse and cracked due to the sheer amount of screaming he had done, not being able to hold them in. "W-Where am I?

"In Ratchet. We're heading back to the Vern base now."

"...Maggie?" Lennox held back the smile that almost broke free. Oh this Decepticon had fallen for her big time.

"She's with Optimus; she had to stay with him so we could treat you. You were a wreck." Megatron grunted quietly in acknowledgement before he struggled to sit up.

"Ratchet?" Lennox said, looking to the front of the vehicle.

"He can sit up, just help him." Will looped an arm around just under the Con's shoulders, avoiding the wounded one, and gently helped him sit up. Megatron leaned against the side of the ambulance, shuddering from the effort of sitting up. It wouldn't have affected Lennox if he had been sitting up, as he was healthy, but Megatron had been beaten, starved, stabbed, drowned and dehydrated for the entire space of his imprisonment. The exertion was immense to him, the strain on his body making him feel even more exhausted.

"Megatron, maybe you should lie down agai-"

"Matt."

"What?"

"My name isn't Megatron anymore remember." Megatron let his head loll to look at Lennox, a small grin appearing on his face.

"Okay, I won't call you Megatron anymore. But seriously, maybe you should lie back down."

"I'd really rather not." Matt gave him a small defiant look, making Lennox grin. So he wasn't completely broken, he was just a little beaten down. 'Or a lot, considering the amount of bruises he has.' Will thought.

They sat there quietly for a few minutes as they waited for the other Bots to finish refuelling, and for the two men to finish negotiating with the owners of the gas station. Will looked down as he felt something softly fall against his shoulder. He looked down and was surprised to see Matt resting his head on it, finally giving into his exhaustion. Lennox gave a small smile and put a hand on the head on his shoulder, playfully ruffling the hair without waking the other man up.

He shifted and laid them both down, carefully moving Matt so that he didn't cause any accidental pain. He lay down behind the Con and slung an arm over him protectively, as if the Sector Seven agents were going to come back to life and pop up any moment. As long as he breathed,

Matt was safe.


	10. Day Thirty Five, Six and Seven

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long, but I've been tied up. The next may take even longer as I'm starting school again soon and that's going to take up a lot of time since it's my last, and GCSE year. Wish me luck!**

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><p>Over the next few days, the exhausted team rested as much as they could, doing nothing short of cherishing the quiet after the storm that they had earned after all of their hard work. They took shifts on keeping an eye on Matt. There was no way that they were going to let him slip away after all they had done to save him.<p>

At the present time, he wasn't getting worse, but he also wasn't getting better. He was still unconscious, and Marissa had set up an IV to get the missing nutrients into his system as quickly as possible.

The whole base was solemn, not even celebrating that they had gotten him out of there. They didn't know if they had truly saved him yet, for all they know, he could slip through their fingers again at any moment, this time for good.

The current one of shift was Blackout. The large black helicopter stared down at the limp, battered and broken human lying on the bed, unmoving as the machines beeped and trilled around him. It was hard to believe that this was the being that had plunged the whole planet into a war. Hard to believe that this was the strong leader that they had all respected, who they had followed for all those years.

He had once hated him, hated him for destroying their planet and making each and every one of them fear for their lives, making them fight who had once been family and friends to survive a pointless battle.

And he could kill him right now. He was defenceless, unconscious and in a weak body that he could crush and maim with one swipe of a single claw.

But he wouldn't.

He had gone with the Autobots for a reason; he had actually wanted to save his former leader. The mech, or man, had changed greatly over the past few months that he had been human and had become an overall better person. He interacted with people better, he was nicer, and he was helpful.

He was often seen helping Ratchet with medical equipment, having formed a tight, and somehow friendly (which seemed impossibly with the outgoing personality of the medic and his tendency to snap and throw wrenches at the people around him) relationship with the mech.

He also sometimes helped Ironhide with some small parts in his weapons that he couldn't get to, reaching inside with his now small human hands, and digging something out or tweaking something. They didn't have the best relationship, but it was civil and they trusted each other enough. They still argued at times, but it seemed more like play fighting now than anything else.

Sarah, Will's wife, even trusted him to an extent now. If she brought Annabelle to the base, she sometimes asked Megatron to keep an eye on her whilst she did something. Of course, she would trust him after Annabelle had gone crawling off and nearly gotten hit by a car. Sarah felt a little guilty about the bruise he had gotten across his ribs from throwing himself at the car to stop it from driving.

He had simply laughed and waved it off, playfully saying that if it happened again, he was going to jump in the car, push the driver out and keep driving himself.

Sam had once made a comment about him being a mother and gotten promptly punched for, getting scolded by Mikaela for saying that, and Megatron also got a good telling off for not being in control of his temper. Both had rolled their eyes and gone back to their activities, Megatron watching Annabelle and Sam washing Bee's alt mode.

So he wouldn't kill the now human, he would give him a second chance, a chance to redeem himself with the copter and improve their relationship.

"Hey sweetie, look who it is!" Sarah said, holding up Annabelle so that she could see the figure in the bed. He still hadn't woken up after yet another day. They had started to worry, but Ratchet had just explained that his body needed recovery time, and he was also just catching up on the sleep he had lost over his month in captivity.

It was unnerving to see the strong man like this. He had been cleaned up a little more before Annabelle had been brought in as Sarah worked her shift at keeping an eye on him, a shift that she had willingly volunteered for. She brushed some hair out of his face, carefully avoiding the stitched up slash wound from a knife on his left cheek.

She smiled as she remembered something from just a month back.

* * *

><p>"Annabelle? Annabelle!" Sarah called as she looked around frantically for her precious little girl. She had turned her back for one minute, and when she had turned to look at Anna again, she was gone.<p>

"Will, I can't find Anna!" She exclaimed to her husband as she walked into the hangar. Will and the Autobots he was conversing with looking down at her.

"You lost her?"

"She just crawled away, I only turned my back for a minute, I can't find her anywhere."

They searched around the base for the best part of half an hour, they were just about to give up and look at the security cameras when Mikaela spotted Annabelle crawling across the road in the middle of the base.

"There she is!"

Sarah turned and was relieved, but then screamed in horror as she saw the car heading towards her little girl. There was no way they could run up and stop it from this far away.

The man had seemingly come out of nowhere, hurling himself at the front of the car, the front of the right side of his ribs colliding with the car as he planted his hands on the hood.

The car screeched to halt and they all almost collapsed with relief.

"Anna!" Sarah and Will ran up, picking up their daughter and hugging her close, glad to see her safe.

"Jesus, are you alright man?"

They then remembered the man that had jumped in front of the car, and gasped when they noticed that it was Megatron. Epps, the one that had been driving the car, was crouched down next to the man, a hand on his shoulder. Megatron was leaning against the side of the car, just where the front wheel was, his hand where he had collided with the car.

"I'll live." He grunted, standing up shakily. He winced in pain as his side protested. "Frag." He muttered under his breath as he stood up straight and white hot pain shot up his side.

"Oh my god!" Sarah cried, shoving Annabelle into her husband's arms and running over. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry you had to do that, but thank you so much! You're not hurt too badly are you? I'll never forgive myself if you are!" She was close to tears by this point, the man may have been the ex-leader of the Decepticons, but he had just saved her daughter's life. And it he wouldn't have had to put himself in the line of the car if she had been watching Anna better.

"It's fine, don't worry." He reassured her. "At least the kid is okay right. She would have been worse off that me that's for sure." He leaned back against the car and grimaced as his side throbbed. "Ow..."

"Still, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault for not watching her." She looked up from the ground when Megatron laughed quietly.

"Calm down, like I said, its okay. Just don't do it again or I'm gunna push the guy out from behind the wheel and run YOU over." He grinned.

Sarah laughed, feeling a little better.

All the while, the Autobots gawped at the scene. Ratchet smiled and gave Optimus a knowing look, which the Semi looked confused at, before walking back into the main hangar.

Megatron wasn't all THAT bad a person.

* * *

><p>She had spent the rest of the week apologizing, nearly sobbing when she saw the bruise that covered the right side of his ribs. Megaton was incredibly patient though; he kept reassuring her and telling her that he did it of his own free will, even as Marissa wrapped up his ribs.<p>

Her smile faded as she thought of the pain, both physical and emotional, he must have gone through over the month he had been in captivity.

Annabelle giggled and hugged his arm, cooing happily to see one of her favourite baby sitters. Sarah smiled and chuckled at her baby's antics. She was just glad Matt was out of there.

Ratchet sighed as he scanned the hybrid's vitals again. He was in a stable condition, the vital fluids and the antibiotics fighting against infection were causing him no harm and he was steadily improving.

But he wasn't showing any signs of waking up. His blood and oxygen levels in the brain were still reduced, and it was still shut down. It was like he was in a coma, but he really hoped that he wasn't.

With the injuries he had, if he actually was in a coma, and had had a severe head injury during his time with Sector Seven, which he probably had, he may not ever wake up, and may die.

He didn't want the human/Cybertronian to die, when he had just started to fit into his role of being a human. He was learning something new about them every day, becoming more normal in society as he learned how to act and speak. His attitude was changing from an angry and cold one, to a warm and friendlier one, unless someone angered him.

If someone threatened someone he cared about, or Sam couldn't keep his mouth shut, nothing could hold him back. He was passionate about protecting people, and his tongue had become so sharp when using human insults, that he often left Sam gaping and speechless, looking like a fish out of water.

He had become quite a good friend to the medic also. He was more co-operative during the medical scans to check his progress changing back, and sometimes helped him when he needed it.

His process in changing back was truly strange. Sometimes, the metal broke through the skin, but others, it just took over the structure of the bones. When Ratchet had examined the shoulder wound, he could see straight through to the bone, and he could see that the entire shoulder blade was a shiny silver colour. His blood was tinged with Energon, but it wasn't doing anything to harm him, it was as if his heart had changed and adapted during the transformation to become much more durable when pumping the tinted blood through his system.

It pained him at times, to see Megatron in agony due to the metal causing him problems, despite all that he had done. But something wasn't quite right. When Ratchet spoke of a certain space in time, in that one time, he looked at him blankly, as if he didn't know what he was talking about. It was like the time he was talking about, didn't exist to him. Like it had been erased from his memory.

So he couldn't blame Megatron for the war, when the mech didn't even know what had happened.

And when he was in pain, all he could do was dose him up to the eyeballs in painkillers, and watch as the transformation continued, as he was helpless to stop it, to stop the pain. It had become something people got used to on the base, which Megatron now stayed in most often so his health could be monitored by the medic, the people got used to seeing him full of drugs, and knew how to act around him. They were patient when he took time to respond through the haze his mind had become, when he moved a little slow. But they didn't have to interact with him much in that time at all. Most of that time, he just stayed in Ratchet's make shift 'med-bay', curled up on one of the beds and slept through it.

That was something else everyone got used to. It was no longer and abnormality to walk into the med-bay and see the two together, either both awake, or the one human asleep.

He still remembered the look on Marissa's face when she had walked in that day, before people had adapted to the sight.

* * *

><p>Ratchet looked up as Marissa walked in through the doors of the med-bay and she smiled up at him.<p>

"Hey Ratchet, I see you're making use of the cargo crates we brought in." The humans had dragged a bunch of the crates in, a range of different sizes, and they were now being used as a form of furniture. The large crates were used as tables, while the slightly smaller were used as a seat. The metal was strong enough to support them, so they had just decided to use them for such uses. And they had no use for beds, they just recharged in their alt modes, so they had the basic necessities thanks to the human's, yet again.

"Yes, they were rather helpful, thank you."

"No proble- Huh?" Her eyes widened as she moved closer to Ratchet and saw the human sitting on one of his legs, leaning against the mech's middle

"Is that Matt?"

"Yes, he was helping me tweak something in my leg that jammed, but the painkillers I've dosed him with make him tired easily. He fell asleep where he was sat right after he finished, and I hadn't the spark to move him." Marissa laughed quietly, keeping her voice down so she didn't wake him up.

"Was there something you wanted?"

"Oh, not really Ratchet. Optimus just wanted me to tell you that everyone's meeting at the lookout tonight, so come there when you're ready. Bring Matt too if you want company!"

"I'll keep that in mind Marissa, thank you."

"No problem Ratch, see ya!"

* * *

><p>Ratchet smiled at the memory and looked over more scans, making sure that everything was alright.<p>

The human was amusing, that was for sure, and not in a cruel 'making fun of him' way. He had a good sense of humour when he wanted to and the medic found that he could actually relax around him. They both had similar opinions and attitudes, both having short tempers with anyone who decided to be annoying because they found it funny.

They often laughed after Ratchet threw a wrench at one of the mechs who couldn't contain their childish nature. And the hummer was almost on the floor once when he watched Megatron hurl a file at Leo when the teen came began being an idiot in the med-bay. It had hit him right between the eyes and left a mark between them. He had looked at Matt wide eyes before running out in fear of something heavier being thrown at him.

The medic looked down with wide optics as he heard a groan, and he saw Matt frown, shifting slightly as he woke.

"OPTIMUS!"


	11. Aftermath, Day One

**Hellooooo! I'm back! Didya miss me! *silence with a grasshopper noise in the background* Ooooookay. Anyway, moving on! **

**My deepest apologies for this chapter's shortness, and general lateness. I have just started school again and**** the workload was shoving me down so much that I just didn't feel like writing. **

**And though I used to write in class, the heat the past few days really made me feel ill combined with the medication I'm on. I was sat in my History lesson in room 160, right above the canteen, in a building that cannot turn the heating off. **

**I kept drifting into lala land (daydreaming), and then snapping back into reality every five minutes literally saying "Huh, what's going on?" Though the teacher didn't seem all that mad, because I'd finished the work in the first half hour of the two hours of the lesson (it was a double lesson). **

**I'm a fast worker :)**

**I managed to get this chapter out though, because I was feeling guilty about leaving you all hanging. Just in case people thought that the fic had ended last chapter, it most definitely hasn't, as you can see. I've got some more stuff stuffed up my sleeve :D**

**A few of you (especially the one who requested this, you know who you are :D) will probably be very happy, as there is some Optimus/Megatron brotherly bonding in this chapter.**

****So, enough rambling from me. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.****

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><p>"Megatron! Are you alright?" Optimus yelled at his older brother as the other mech fell to his knees in front of him. He couldn't see his brother's face, as his back was to him, but he had heard the cry of pain as the bullet had hit his chest.<p>

"I'm fine." Megatron growled out, not in a vicious way, but more of a masking pain way.

Optimus spun and shot at another hostile approaching them. He looked out of the corner of his optics at his brother, his concern gnawing at his processor as he watched him struggle to his feet again.

Riots had been springing up all around the city as the civilians became displeased with the way things were being run. The current Prime was trying his best to keep them in line, and Optimus and Megatron, the next Prime and The High Lord Protector, could only do so much.

Their unit desperately held off the enemy to their limit, struggling against the sheer number of them. They just had to hold on a little longer, back-up was on the way. They would help and everything would be fine. He could get his brother to the med-bay, and make sure he was safe.

"Optimus!" He heard Megatron yell. "Look out!"

He spun around in time to see a fist heading towards his face.

"OPTIMUS!"

The red and blue mech started out of his thoughts as he heard Ratchet yell for him.

Everyone looked towards the door, and then the humans held on tightly as the ground shuddered under Optimus as he ran like a bomb was strapped to his aft to the med-bay doors and slammed in, the doors shutting behind him.

"What? What's wrong? Has he gotten worse?"

"Quite the opposite." Ratchet smirked, giving his leader a knowing look. The red and blue mech had been extremely worried despite all that had happened between the brothers.

He looked down at Megatron again and watched as the rusty red eyes flickered open. The eyes looked a little glassy, but at least they were finally open. They roamed around the room in an almost dazed and confused manner before falling on the medic.

"Ratch'?" The hybrid murmured, his eyebrows pulling together. "Wha-?"

"It's okay Megatron. You're back at the Vern base. You're safe and recovering nicely it seems."

"What happened to t-that guy?" The weak voice said. Ratchet looked over at Optimus, who shifted uncomfortably.

"He's dead." The human looked like he wanted to ask more, but his exhaustion took over as he fell back onto the bed, his tired eyes closing as his head throbbed and the world span slowly.

"How are you feeling Matt?" Ratchet asked him. Optimus started at the human name, not used to it at all.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Matt muttered under his breath, making a smirk come to the medic's face, and a shocked look come to his brother's.

"Sooo...tired, sore throat, head ache, dizzy, throbbing wounds and just a little hungry?"

"...What the hell Ratch'?" A red eye opened to stare at the medic in confusion as to how he managed to know all of that.

"Well, I AM a medic." The hummer glanced over at Optimus, and he took pity on the mech.

"I'll be back soon. I have some things to do. Look after him while I'm gone Optimus." He flickered an optic in an imitation of a wink as he passed his leader, before exiting the room.

He shook his head, hoping that this wouldn't end badly.

The room was silent as the two brothers watched each other. The mech and the human.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Megatron said quietly, a hint of sarcastic humour in his voice.

"It may have had to have lasted longer if we were any later."

Matt flinched as the memories started flooding to the front of his mind. He threw up a mental wall, refusing to think about it and cause himself any unnecessary stress.

"If we were just a few minutes later, you could have been de-"

"Optimus..."

"-ad. We could have lost you all because I couldn't find you. I would never ha-"

"Optimus..."

"-ve been able to forgive myself if something terrible had happened. Maggie would have been devastated. Mikaela too. They've become so attached to you lately. And plus the friends you've made. It would have been all my fau-"

"OPTIMUS!" The red and blue mech jumped out of his rambling, staring down at his last living family member, who was now panting slightly from the effort of yelling his name in such a weakened state.

His optics widened as he sat up, covering his mouth with a hand as he started coughing harshly. He stepped forward and carefully rubbing his back in a soothing gesture with one large metal finger, waiting for the fit to pass.

The coughing finally stopped and he was left breathing heavily, Optimus still stroking his back.

It felt strange after his month in captivity, to be touched in a gentle manner. Though it was comforting as his ribs rebelled against his efforts to regain his breath. He winced at the sharp pain, wrapping an arm loosely around his middle.

"Are you alright Megatron?" His brother's deep, rumbling voice said from behind him. He nearly jumped, but restrained himself. He nodded enough for the Autobot to see, the mech then falling silent, his hand now still, but resting on his back.

He hated that every little thing was scaring him out of his skin. Ever tiny, insignificant thing making him shiver in terror.

He rested his head in a hand as his breathing evened out and returned to normal.

"So...what exactly happened to all the people at that base?" He asked.

His eyes narrowed in confusion as his brother suddenly looked ashamed, like he was afraid of what he would think or something.

"Optimus?"

"We killed them. Every last one." Matt paused, his heart threatening to stop for a minute in his moment of shock.

His brother watched his face nervously, searching for any disgust at his actions or pain from his injuries. Even after the war, after all these years, he still wanted Megatron to think well of him. It was just something that existed because he was his older brother. He wanted to look good to him, and for him to be proud of him.

Yet he also wanted this, because he secretly admired his older brother a little. His spirit was incredibly hard to break, his attitude and hidden intelligence often making people stop and stare in wonder. His attitude made him seem like some common thug, yet his intelligence sky rocketed past many, many beings that had ever been on Cybertron. He simply knew what he was doing. Whether it was his processor telling him to do things, or simply gut instinct, no one would ever know. But he was just...amazing at times.

"What about Simmons?" The red eyes stared at the floor, an emotion the Prime couldn't indentify flickering through them.

"He's fine. He helped us find you in fact."

"And most likely got hurt in the process."

"It was nothing too serious."

"He still got hurt. Because I wasn't strong enough to get out on my own. It's my fault."

Blue optics flared in disbelief and a hint of anger as he crouched in front of his brother, fixing him with an icy glare.

"Not. It. Was. Not. Don't you dare ever think that, ever. You are one of the strongest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing in my lifetime. You were injured. You were wounded so badly that you could barely hold yourself up off of the floor. Of course you couldn't get out on your own.

The only ones at fault here, are Sector 7, and their monster of a leader. We would have come to save you even if it meant putting our lives at a high risk. Believe it or not, people started to see the real you, and they liked what they saw. They saw past that frustrating thug exterior you keep up and saw exactly who you are. Someone who cares about their loved ones, someone who would do anything to keep them safe, even if it meant risking his own life. Someone who is a little rough around the edges, but still kind and pure in a way that cannot be destroyed. Someone who was tied down, and taken advantage of when at his weakest. Someone...who is my brother."

Megatron stared up at Optimus, absolutely speechless. The icy blue optics softened and the mech lifted a hand, the large metal appendage curling around the human's left side as a reassuring touch, much like another human would put a hand on another's shoulder.

"I know that you truly believe that it was your fault. But there was nothing you could have done. You were defenceless, and in serious need of medical help. Simmons decided to help by his own choice. A choice he stood by even when he was threatened and beaten down for it. So listen carefully, and know that I am telling you the absolute truth... It was not your fault."

The hybrid looked down at the floor again, shivering slightly as fluid started to rise in his eyes against his will. A tear rolled down his cheek, more following afterwards.

Prime's optics widened slightly in response, before he grabbed his brother gently, sitting back and pulling him to his chest. It was comforting to feel the small form resting against his chest plating, right over his spark.

He would never let this happen again. He point blank refused to let his brother go through this amount of pain and suffering again. He WOULD protect his brother if it was the last thing he ever did.

He held him close as he cried, whispering meaningless words to him, comforting him as best as he could.

After all, what were brothers for?

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><p><strong>Well, there you go. I hope you all liked it, and please review! I need the extra encouragement right now.<strong>

**Until next time! **


	12. Aftermath, Day One, Part Two

**Nutritional facts: Contains strict females, mischievousness and the general stupidity of men. Also Wilson and House from House M.D.**

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><p>"Hey, Simmons. You alright?" Lennox asked curiously as he flopped down next to the former S7 agent on the sofa in the so called 'staff room' they had formed during the search.<p>

"Yeah, fine Lennox." He sighed, rubbing a hand across his face.

"Okay, you can't lie to me. Come on. What wrong with you?" He said, frowning at the other man.

"I just feel sort of...guilty you know."

"How come?"

"I helped...torture him. I contributed to his pain and I watched him go through all that alone without anyone to show him an ounce of kindness."

"But you helped us find him didn't you?"

"Yeah...but-"

"But nothing. You helped us find him, and you never really felt any hatred towards him when you were doing what they all did to him. You _saved his life_ Simmons, can't you see that. He'd be dead if you hadn't let us track the call to the base."

"I guess so." Simmons sighed, before he sat straighter, a smile on his face. "Thanks Lennox."

"No worries. I appreciate what you did. And I'm sure Matt is grateful to you as well."

"Matt?"

"Megatron. But he doesn't want to be called his Cybertronian name anymore."

"Oh, right. I guess I won't be calling him NBE-1 for a while either."

"You'd better not." Lennox glowered, thinking of the names dubbed to the Cybertronian race, the names that just seemed so cold and..._laboratory specimen_ like.

Simmons grinned at him. "Don't worry. I promise I won't."

They glanced at everyone in the room, and noticed gratefully that no one had noticed their quiet conversation.

They all looked up as Ratchet stepped out of the med-bay, an oddly happy look on his faceplates.

"Ratchet? What is it?" Mikaela asked, cocking her head to the side.

Ironhide looked slightly scared of the expression on the medic's faceplates. _'Oh Primus, make it stop.' _He internally whimpered.

"He's awake."

There was silence around the room, before everyone suddenly jumped up at once. Ratchet quickly stood in front of the door, fixing them with a glare.

"If you want to see him, then wait. Optimus is in there with him."

"...And they're not arguing or trying to kill each other?" Ironhide said, looking shocked.

Everyone flinched at the clang the wrench rebounding off of his helm made, before shivering in fear at the disapproving glare on their resident medic's faceplates.

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><p>Optimus gave a small smile as he looked down at the small form curled up on his chest plates, sleeping quietly. His brother had exhausted himself after his crying fit, and had finally fallen asleep on his chest. He raised one of his large fingers and gently brushed the tear trail on one of Megatron's cheeks away.<p>

"How's he doing?" His helm shot up and he saw Ratchet peering through the entrance to the room at him.

"He's fine, just wore himself out. He's exhausted." He rumbled, looking back down at the still form of his brother, the only movement being the rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

"I'm not surprised. He's been through a lot. He's going to need a lot of time to recover."

Optimus made a noise of agreement and sighed. "I only wish that we had been able to prevent all of this. He was making so much progress...and now..."

"Now he'll probably fear humans, and likely fear himself." Ratchet said, his optics glowing angrily with his anger at S7. "I hope that he recovers from this, I really do...he was becoming...a rather good friend."

Optimus looked up again and saw the medic looking down at the floor sadly. "We can only be here for him."

"You're right. I'm sure as hell not letting him out of my sight."

The Prime smiled lightly. "We have to stay strong, for his sake."

Or he may truly break.

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><p>Maggie tapped her fingernails on the table in front of her impatiently as she waited. She could help but be impatient, she longer to see Matt. She wanted to at least see his face. She hadn't seen him up close in over a month. And when she had last caught a glimpse of him, he had been covered in blood and his life was hanging on a thread.<p>

She heard heavy footsteps next to her, and looked up to see Ratchet standing over her.

"You can go in if you want. But be quiet. He's asleep." She beamed up and him and jumped up eagerly, almost bouncing with the excitement of getting to see him again.

"Thank you Ratchet."

"You're welcome Ms Madsen." He smiled uncharacteristically.

She walked so quickly she was practically running over to the door to the med-bay, pushing the human sized one open quietly and carefully entering.

"Hello Maggie." Optimus greeted her. She smiled at the big rig, then catching sight of Matt lying in the Cybertronians lap as the Prime leant with his back against the wall behind him.

"Is he alright!" She exclaimed in alarm, her eyes wide as she rushed forward, her heels clicking furiously on the cement floor.

"Calm yourself Ms Madson, he is merely asleep. You must remember that this ordeal has likely thoroughly exhausted both his mind and his body."

"This is becoming to be a bit of a habit. Every time I try to see him after something bad happens, he's asleep." She smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I doubt he is doing it purposely."

"With him we never know. He's a troublemaker through and through."

"How so?" Optimus asked, his optics brightening in curiosity.

"He had a... war with a few of the guys on our apartment floor." She said, looking amused and annoyed at the same time.

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><p>Maggie looked up from her precious magazine when she heard the sound of commotion outside the door. Matt had left the apartment only five minutes ago, so she felt worry building up inside of her. The last time she had heard this much commotion, it had been Matt having an argument with the woman down the hallway who had lied to the landlord about them damaging something in the apartment to try and get them thrown out.<p>

They didn't know what they had done to annoy her, but she just seemed to want them gone. It looked like she just wanted to make other people miserable because she was unhappy with her unruly, rude and disrespectful kids and her drunk of a husband. But that was still no excuse to do something as serious as try to make them homeless.

She put down her magazine and stood, walking over to the door and grabbing the handle, cautiously turning it and opening the door to peer around and peek down the hallway.

A large orange object suddenly flew past her vision and collided with the wall, creating a loud bang before falling to the floor and bouncing, rolling innocently to a stop in front of her door.

She blinked down at the seemingly harmless and innocent dodge ball at her feet and then closed her eyes, sighing and shaking her head before looking back up, just in time to see one of the neighbours fall to the ground, his hands over his head in protection even as he laughed his head off like a maniac.

A dodge ball struck him in the side and he yelped before rushing onto all fours and scrambling into his apartment door.

The elevator doors opened and yet another dodge ball soared with dangerous accuracy down the hallway to get the guy in the stomach.

Maggie held a hand to her mouth, thinking that this was getting out of hand now innocent people were getting involved, when the man suddenly unzipped his backpack and got out two more, running down the hallway with a yell that promised pain.

Two men jumped out an apartment with a battle cry and a dodge ball hit one of them in the face, bouncing off the other man's cheek before colliding with another door and knocking it open.

By now, Maggie didn't know whether to scream and run back into her apartment to safety, or to cry with laughter.

Sally, an office secretary that she had become quite good friends with, came out of one of the apartment doors, looking down at papers in her hands. Maggie opened her mouth to warn her, but was too late as a dodge ball hit her hands, making the papers scatter everywhere and float to the ground with a rustle, before Jake, a teenager who lived at the very end of the hallway ran past with a cheeky grin and a loud laugh.

"Jacob!" Sally said in a disapproving tone, though she had a smile on her face and a fond look in her eyes.

Another man ran down the hallway and fell to the floor, unfortunate enough to trip over his own laces. Jake ran up, about to throw a dodge ball at him when four more lashed out from random points from around the hallway and hit him, making him drop his and fall, clambering over the man on the floor, Chris, to throw himself into his friend's apartment.

He landed face first into safety and lay there, groaning in pain and chuckling madly at the same time.

Wilson jogged down exited his apartment, and was given a cruel morning greeting as a dodge ball hit him in a rather painful place. He doubled over and dropped his briefcase as Maggie cringed in sympathy. House grinned and walked past as quickly as a man with a cane could, a satisfied look on his face, which was rare for someone who was in no way a morning person. She had a feeling that she knew who had thrown that dodge ball. Those two had a weird friendship.

She straightened as Matt came into her line of sight, standing next to Wilson and putting a hand on his shoulder with a look of concern on his face. Her eyes narrowed however, as his other hand was hidden behind his back. It whipped around and a dodge ball hit Wilson's face, giving out a loud smack before Matt ran off down the hallway like a greyhound, diving into House's apartment.

Wilson was on the floor now, groaning as one hand grabbed his face and another was shielding between his legs.

The man who had been hit in the elevator, Kenta, ran down the hallway and not looking where he was going, tripped straight over Wilson and created a pile up as Mike, a big black man who was almost 7 ft and was built quite largely, tripped over the two of them and landed on them both.

An intimidating character as Mike first appeared, he was actually like a large teddy bear as long as no one harmed his friends, those was the only times that he turned serious. He had taken a liking to Matt, and was often in the apartment on a Friday night along with a few of the others in the hallway, who had bonded strangely well as Maggie blinked. She hadn't even seen it happen, but they had formed their own little circle. Mike, or Mikey as Matt called him just to mess with him, seemed to be the bodyguard of the team, and that settled Maggie's nerves, knowing that if Matt went out with them, still being naive about many human things, that he would be protected.

The chaos continued for what could have been half an hour, or minutes, she couldn't tell due to how absorbed she was into it.

"ENOUGH!" Every single one of the men froze and turned to look down the hallway. The woman of their families were a assembled at the end of the hallway, hands on hips and glares on their faces. They all gulped shifted nervously, grinning sheepishly at the women.

"I think this has been going on long enough don't all of you?" Jake's mother said, her voice demanding authority. Even Matt winced at her tone. "If you continue much longer, someone is likely going to end up seriously hurt."

She stared pointedly down at the pileup that was still trying to right itself. "Now it's almost 10:30 and I for one want my son back, as he promised to help me fix a shelf _yesterday."_Jake cringed and rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous habit.

The women gradually made their ways back into their apartments, Kenta's girlfriend, Jake's mother, Chris' wife, and Mikey's grandmother, who he was living with simply to keep her company after her husband died and his parents died when he was young.

Maggie gave Matt a sideways glance and stood in the doorway of their apartment, waiting for him to come back in.

The seven guys turned to each other, staring at each other before grinning.

"Paintballing next Friday?" Jake cheerfully suggested.

Maggie groaned and walked back into the apartment, slamming the door behind her in a defeated manner.

They would never grow up, so they should probably just stop trying.

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><p>Optimus was laughing by the end of the story, imaging his brother running around like a child.<p>

"I found out later that those strangely accurate shots actually came from him. And I think the same applied to the paintball judging by the bruises on everyone."

Optimus chuckled, and shook his head, looking down at Matt.

"What did you tell his friends after he went missing?"

Maggie's eyes widened. She knew she had been forgetting something.

She cursed and fished her mobile out of her pocket, furiously tapping in Mikey's number and almost jumping on the spot in frustration as she waited for him to answer.

"_Hello?"_

"Mikey? It's Maggie. Matt's girlfriend."

"_Oh hey, we was wondering if ya'll had broken up. We ain't seen Matt in weeks, where is the little guy?"_

"He was in a bit of an accident. Look Mikey, he's recovering for the moment, and he'll hopefully be back soon, though I don't know exactly when."

"_Well...can we come and see him?"_

"Uhhh." She looked up at Optimus who had been listening in and responded at his small shake of the head. "That's probably not a good idea at the minute. I'm very sorry Mikey, it's just that the less visitors he has, the more rest he can get."

"_He, s'all cool. We'll see ya'll home soon okay. Just call us before ya'll get home so we can throw a party okay!"_

"I will Mike, say hello to the others from me and Matt."

"_Will do, see ya little lady."_

"Good bye Mikey." She hung up and looked back up at Optimus, sighing.

"Well I bet he's going to have one hell of a welcome when he gets back home." She smiled.

"I bet he'll enjoy it. He likely missed them during this month."

"I think he probably just missed non-violent contact." She said miserably, looking sad before she smiled again. "But he's home now."

They watched Matt sleep for a few minutes longer before Maggie walked forward and planted a kiss on Matt's forehead. "I'm going back to our apartment quickly to pack a bag alright. I'm sure he'll feel more comfortable wearing something familiar, and I sure as hell need a change of clothes. I've been wearing these since we found him." She laughed quietly before quietening.

"Look after him while I'm gone Optimus."

"I will give my life if I have to to keep him safe Ms Madsen, I can assure you of that. We all feel the same. Nothing will touch him."

She smiled again and exited the room, asking Bumblebee quietly if he could give her a ride home and staring back at the base as they drove off into the darkness of the evening.

She had seen the determination in all of their eyes, the way that they all stood as if ready for an attack, all of them armed.

Optimus was right when he had said that nothing would touch him.

Not as long as they had life running through their veins.

And affection for the most unlikely person in their hearts.

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><p><strong>I am sorry for the long wait, and the crappy ending, it's just that writer's block tied me down and threw me in the closet. Exams'll do that to me. The dodge ball thing was kind of random I know, but I felt that I had to write something cheerful for once to break the angst of the fic, and I needed some cheering up too. I succeeded in cheering myself up, let's just hope that I made you giggle too.<strong>

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll hopefully get the chance to explain the little group of friends Matt has there in the future. I especially liked Mikey and Jake**

**And if you guys are wondering about the House M.D. reference and thinking WHYYYYY? It's because I'm planning a crossover between Cosmic Joke and House M.D. that yourdeadwafflecone has already read some of the first chapter for, and approves of. It won't be up for a while though, because I'm going to finish my exams first to make more time for researching for the fanfic.**

**Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and are still reading despite the wait. Please review! :D**


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